Marriages in China dropped in 2022 to their lowest since records began, local news outlet Yicai reported on Sunday, continuing a steady decline over the past decade although the matrimonial total may have been affected by stringent COVID lockdowns, reports Reuters. Just 6.83 million couples completed their marriage registrations last year, data published on the website of the Ministry of Civil Affairs showed, down about 800,000 from the previous year.
The drop in couples tieing the knot, which follows pandemic restrictions keeping tens of millions locked in their homes or compounds for weeks last year, comes as authorities deal with a declining birth rate and a falling population.
In 2022 China’s population fell for the first time in six decades, a decline that is expected to mark the start of a long period of decline in its citizen numbers with profound implications for its economy and the world. China’s birth rate fell last year to 6.77 births per 1,000 people, the lowest on record, from 7.52 in 2021.
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